"This work is unlike any other, in its range of rich, conjuring imagery and its dexterity, its smart voice. Carroll-Hackett doesn’t spare us—but doesn’t save us—she draws a blueprint of power and class with her unflinching pivot: matter-of-fact and tender." —Jan Beatty

K’in, a brand new online literary journal, is seeking submissions of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for our inaugural issue, set to be released May 2018.

We’re particularly interested in work from writers of color, women, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community, and others from underrepresented /marginalized communities. Experimental, traditional, playful, prayerful, celebratory, challenging: human—try us. Show us a new way to tell one of the millions of stories under that glorious sun.

We publish two issues a year—May 1 and November 1—and have reading periods from November 1-March 31 and June 1-September 30.

Submissions are accepted only through Green Submissions. Please include a brief cover letter and bio of not more than 50 words.

For all submissions, please include name and contact information on the document as well as in the online form. All submissions should be formatted with 1-inch margins and numbered pages. Prose manuscripts should be double-spaced.

Do not send previously published work (either print or online, including personal blogs). Upon submission to K’in, you agree that your work is original, unpublished, and that you are the author.

If accepted, K’in acquires First North American Serial Rights and First Electronic Rights. All rights revert to the writer after publication. Contributors agree to credit K’in if the work is subsequently reproduced online or in print.

Submissions will be responded to within three months. If you haven’t heard from us after three months, feel free to inquire by sending us a note through Green Submissions. For any work that is accepted, we will require an updated bio of not more than fifty words and a professional quality author photo.

As much as we would love to be able to pay our contributors, unfortunately we are not able to do so. This is a labor of love for all of us, and we will do our best to honor and promote your work.

Submission Details

Prose: 5000 words or less, open to content, form, structure.

Fiction: We welcome short stories of all shapes and sizes, from the mind-blowing traditional story to fiction that blurs the lines between forms, genre fiction, experimental fiction, etc. We also welcome flash and micro fiction.

Nonfiction: We’re looking for slow burns in a world of hot takes, questions asked instead of answers proved. We welcome a wide variety of nonfiction—traditional essay, narrative nonfiction, micro/flash memoir—and encourage experimentation, though not at the expense of factual truth. Too many true stories go untold, and we want to offer space to honor those voices.

Poetry: 3-5 poems, open to content, form, structure. Please don’t forget the power voice,sound, and time can have in poetry.

For all submissions, simultaneous submissions are permitted, but please let us know. To withdraw one part of a submission, please email us at kinliteraryjournal (at) gmail (dot) com

Some people you meet are just GOOD, to the core, the real-by-gawd goodness shimmering from them like light. Mike Hamer, my office mate in my first teaching job at East Carolina University, was one of those people, good, smart, kind, funny, gentle, authentic, loving, decent to the core.

Rest in Peace, Mike. Travel safely and sweetly. This world will miss you sorely, but I can already hear the heavenly music from here.

Make art about someone whose goodness emanates, shines, in everything they do. Pay tribute to them while they’re still walking here with us.